YouCat: The Seventh Commandment (You Shall Not Steal)

“You shall not steal.“

No one likes having what is theirs taken from them – whether it’s your lunch money, your bike, or your car, I think it’s fair to say that every human person likes knowing their things are safe and secure. The commandment certainly covers our ‘stuff,’ as well as a few other areas you may not have considered:

“The Seventh Commandment actually forbids only taking someone else’s property unlawfully. However, it also addresses the human endeavor to make just social arrangements in the world and to plan for its beneficial development. -YouCat 426

What you end up with is a basic understanding of what Jesus was talking about when He told us to love our neighbor. It isn’t simply about respecting their things, but about respecting the intrinsic value each of our brothers and sisters carries as a child of God. One of the ways we can do this is not to take their stuff – but implicit in this commandment is our duty to look out for their needs – particularly those who are unable to do so for themselves. So in looking at this commandment, we need to look at both sides – what we shouldn’t do, and what we should.

First of all, this commandment tells us not to take what belongs to others:

“Theft is the unlawful appropriation of goods belonging to another.” -YouCat 428

To give you a sense of what that means, here’s the list of things we’re not supposed to do:

stealing

not paying a just wage

keeping items you’ve found that could be given back

fraud, counterfeiting, or falsifying accounting records

making others work in inhumane conditions

breaking contracts and tax evasion

wasting profits and not considering the needs of others (to those who are given much, more is expected)

artificially influencing prices

endangering others jobs

bribery

making those who work underneath you do something illegal or immoral

doing shoddy work

asking for inappropriate remuneration (asking for more than you’re worth)

It’s a pretty exhaustive list, but it all comes down to not taking, taking credit for, or in any way doing harm to that which belongs to others. And as much as that says, these prohibitions may be the easier part of this commandment, as the second part looks to our duties to others (i.e. what we’re supposed to do.) We call this are of the Church’s teaching ‘social justice’ or ‘Catholic social teaching.’ And it starts with the way we see the human person:

“Because all men, as children of God, possess a unique dignity, the Church with her social teaching is committed to defending and promoting this human dignity for all men in the social sphere.” -YouCat 438

We can look at a lot of the facets of the Church and say that many things belong to those called to ministry. Whether it’s those in the ordained ministry celebrating the Sacraments for us, or some laypeople like myself who have been given the gift of serving the Church in some type of specialized ministry, the need to look out for one’s neighbor transcends all boundaries:

“Christians must look after the needy of the earth with great consideration, love, and perseverance. After all, on no other point will they be evaluated so decisively as on their way of treating the poor: ‘As you did it to one of the least of my brethren, you did it to me’ (Matthew 25:40).” -YouCat 449

“It is appropriate to emphasize the preeminent role that belongs to the laity, both men and women… it is their task to animate temporal realities with Christian commitment, by which they show that they are witnesses and agents of peace and justice.” -Bl. John Paul II

We have a duty to look out for the needs of others, and not to do so could be considered ‘stealing’ from them. There’s an old sufi saying that goes “Past the seeker as he prayed came the crippled and the beggar and the beaten. And seeing them, he cried, ‘great God, how is it that a loving creator can see such things and yet do nothing about them?’ And God said, ‘I did do something. I made you.'” There are many of us – particularly in my part of the world – who are very well off. And the expectation, as in the case of the ‘seeker’ mentioned above… our ‘much’ has been given to us that we might help others. This can take place in acts of service, participating in organizations that serve the poor, giving your money, offering your talents… there are a million ways in which each of us has the opportunity to help those in need every day.

There is a treasury of teaching in this area: how we are to reach out to the poor, the lonely, and the hurting; how we are to advocate for them with the government, and even how we ought to look after the world around us. All of this makes up the Church’s social teaching, which at its heart is looking out for the good of each and every human being:

“Catholic Social teaching evaluates all societal arrangements according to whether they serve the common good, which means: to the extent that they enable ‘men, families, and associations more adequately and readily [to] attain their own perfection’ (Second Vatican Council, Gaudium et Spes)” – YouCat 442

We have been given the opportunity as Christians, who’ve been given so much that we don’t deserve, to not only respect what belongs to others, but also to give from what we have to share the same kind of gift. In a sense, that’s a big part of what the “others second” in I am third is supposed to mean… and it’s a call Christ is laying on each of us.